


Unwitting Matchmaker

by kipli



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crushes, Fanboy Tony, Fluff, Grief/Mourning, Humor, M/M, Pining, Post-Thor: The Dark World, Sad hunk of muscles Thor, Work In Progress, understanding Tony
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-26
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2018-10-24 02:53:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10732659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kipli/pseuds/kipli
Summary: AU set after Thor: The Dark World, Thor returns to Avengers Tower to find solace after his mother and brother's deaths. Only, no one but Tony Stark will listen to his stories of Loki's bravery. Stories that soon leave Tony with a mild crush on a dead guy. A heartbroken Thor eventually seeks closure by looking for Loki's body, only to discover he still lives. WIP





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the Frostiron Reversebang. I picked up the story as a pinch hitter and sadly I didn't have time to finish before posting. Real life has been nuts so apologies for just getting started. However, I do plan to keep poking away at this fic as it's an adorable idea.
> 
> Please see the fantastic original artwork by @[OutOfLuck](http://archiveofourown.org/users/OutOfLuck/pseuds/OutOfLuck) [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10582293). It was an honor and I hope you enjoy it now and as I add to it.

“Okay, big guy. Enough with the moping. You're even bringing Jarvis down.” Tony tossed Thor a look over the rim of his drink. He leaned a hip against the marbled terrace wall Thor currently perched himself on, his hammer to one side of him. The view of New York City was something else with the sun halfway set. Avenger Tower was privy to some fantastic sights.

Thor cast a despondent look over at Tony before returning to staring across the city before them. There had never before been such a sad lump of muscle. Who knew such bulky shoulders could slump so far? His voice was an absent rumble as he merely stated, “My apologies to Jarvis.”

He'd been like this for days. Tony released a breath and turned to take in the sunset himself, sipping his drink. “So you wanna talk about it?”

Thor huffed a growled, “I _have_ talked. No one cared to listen.”

“You can't blame Steve for questioning-”

“He would dismiss _all_ that I know to be true because of one act!”

“Isn't that kinda what you're doing?” Tony pressed. “One act and all is forgiven?”

Thor leveled Tony with a glare before he said, firm in each word, “No. It is not.” His eyes clouded over with emotions and he looked away. “I know my brother. Life was not kind to him. _I_ was not as kind as I should've been. Something happened to him in his time away. They twisted him. I have no proof but I know it. The man all of you saw was not the brother I knew. The brother I knew sacrificed himself for me. If you had only seen his face...”

Tony took in the sight of Thor, hunched over and bleak, lost in his own thoughts. Tony sighed and settled elbows on the terrace wall. “I know, big guy, but none of us knew him the way you knew him.”

Thor shook his head and picked up his hammer, twirling it in his hand. “Then trust in my words. As team members ought to.”

He watched the man so casually perched on the edge of the building. Tony nodded to himself. “Alright.”

Thor tossed him a look.

Tony shrugged. “Alright, start talking. Tell me everything I don't know.”

Thor blinked at the suggestion. “I... Where should I begin?”

“You were the one saying we don't understand him.” Tony cast a look over the city and then back to Thor. “Yesterday, before the argument started, you mentioned that mom was good with magic. She wasn't a helpless victim and nearly had the fucker.” Thor nodded, face falling a bit more at the mention of his mother. Tony cocked an eyebrow, “So did she teach Loki?”

Some spark of life lit up Thor's feature. He looked down at the hammer in his hand and smiled to himself. He eventually spoke in a low, distant voice that rumbled in his chest, “Yes. When he was little father made him train with me. It was rough for him. He was smaller, skinnier. He could not best the girls with a sword much less me. It went on for weeks until mother interceded. She did not tell father. She wanted to see what his gifts might be.”

Thor gave a happily little grunt. “I remember sitting in her study, watching Loki swiftly manage each spell as he was shown. He was a natural. He was as good with it as I was with the hammer. It was remarkable seeing my brother excel at a craft. He begged her for lessons. He stole her every book on the subject. The next few years are mostly memories of him with his nose in some book.” He huffed and looked over to Tony. “He bested me in a duel in front of father soon after. Father was furious at Loki for _cheating_ but there is nothing wrong with magic. Everyone has their talents. It is not always brawn.” He clapped a hand to Tony's shoulder and squeezed before releasing.

Tony grunted, understanding the parallel to his own tech. “Never count the little guy out.”

“Indeed.” Thor's gaze returned back to his hammer. “Still, our father's opinion did not change, no matter mother's words. He was forbidden from using magic on the practice field. It didn't stop Loki from trying to sneak in using it but it also pushed his skill with a staff and knives. He could not usually best brute force but he could defeat archers and other nimble fighters like himself. He still learned with mother. Father was yet to be so stubborn on everything and allowed the teachings if mother wished it but if he was caught using it for 'nefarious' purposes he'd be punished.”

Thor grunted and with a mighty heave flung his hammer straight out into the evening air with a precise spin. “I got him into so much trouble. I had no idea how to escape Asgard. I'd have been a very bored young man without him to assist.” He chuckled lightly as the hammer returned straight back into his hand. “We fought giants and men and monsters. He snuck us through cracks and portals. He cloaked us in spells to go unseen. We had merry times, the two of us.”

Thor's features fell. “It was always Loki's fault when we were found out. I was bewitched or some other nonsense by my brother's stories and spells. Never mind that it was _I_ who found such places in books and begged for days for him to take us there so I might fight some creature.” He looked down at the hammer in his lap. “He saved me many times over. He would watch my back and moved me from danger. He would fight what else would come that I had never deigned to notice. And he could talk us out of any situation with the locals. He gave a rousing speech in Prussia once. Half the town would have bed him but he was never much interested in... conquests of that sort.”

It all sounded like another person and another lifetime but the last part had Tony snort in disbelief. “Really? The egomaniac didn't want a harem of girls?”

“We were young, then. It was overwhelming, I think. Plus Parmes broke his heart early in life. He wanted little to do with any of it after that bastard was done with him.”

“Parmes?”

“He was slightly older than myself and more so Loki. His silver tongue was nearly as well versed as Loki's. He encouraged Loki's skill with a staff and was his sparring partner for many years. Loki was always... intoxicated by his presence. Eventually the bastard bed him. I think it was on a whim but to Loki it was everything he'd ever wanted. He went on and on about Parmes. He fawned and daydreamed of their future and Parmes liked the even more open adoration so he never corrected the mistake that their coupling meant something. It went on too long. I attempted to help but then Loki took it poorly when I confronted Parmes.”

Tony sighed as he imagined a young, naive Loki. Someone out of place in a hammer and shield infested culture. Finally getting the attention he wanted from someone and then having it used against him. Tony muttered, “First love always crushes you the hardest...”

Thor grunted in agreement. “I nearly lost him then. He was humiliated beyond belief. Parmes of course found the most horrendous time possible to break the news that he meant nothing to him. Public. Some party. Everyone our age in attendance. It was nearly a year before Loki left the palace again. I always felt I'd done poorly. I should have...”

“What young man listens to any advice on love?” Tony reassured. “You were there afterwards.”

“I was. It still feels the same as my not trying harder to help him after we went home, after the attack here. I let father's words taint my view of him. I did not see him enough. I did not-”

“Don't think about the what ifs. It'll kill you.”

“I knew him. I _knew_ my brother. He was not right. I should have talked and-”

“Hey,” Tony interrupted again, reaching for the other man's arm. “I said stop. It doesn't do you any good to dwell on the what ifs.” Thor kept his gaze down and Tony pressed, “Would you talking to him, even if you got through to him, have changed anything on the battlefield? He'd still be dead, Thor. It sucks. It royally fucking sucks but it's how things turned out. You have to deal.”

“I don't-”

Emotions spiked and Tony's voice barked hard, “You have to deal! There's no going back. All we can ever fucking do is deal and move on.” He looked away from Thor and downed the last of his drink. He needed another. He was the last fucking person who should be giving grief and trauma advice but here he was. Apparently the only one who gave a shit enough to actually listen. He set his glass down and muttered, “Come on. Gods gotta eat too.”

Thor resisted a moment before giving in. He swung his legs over the marble and stood on the terrace. Tony pointed them inside. Thor's shoulders still drooped but his steps were a little lighter. “Thank you for listening, Stark.”

“Always, brute force.”


	2. Chapter 2

“He did what?!”

“I do not jest! He'd have talked me into handing over my crown as well if I'd had one. Then the lord insisted on throwing him a feast!”

Tony burst into pleased, relaxed laughter. He beamed the widest smile as Thor went on at length, describing the festivities and all the merriment. Loki being dashing. Loki capturing everyone's attention. Loki using magic to do parlor tricks. The impressed courtesans. Thor doing his best to oafishly impress with brute strength, lifting tables to the amazement of many, and gaining a meager following compared to Loki's.

Thor had been telling stories all day, for the third day in a row, but Tony wasn't growing tired of them. They'd gone over dragon fights, although Thor disputed that not just any winged lizard was a dragon, and stories of elves and frost giants. Mighty battles and mischievous nights. They'd spent the equivalent to their early adulthood romping around all the realms, including many a trip to Earth. There were less impressive things to battle on Midgard but plenty of mortals to impress.

Even in death, Loki _continued_ to impress mere mortals.

“Giggle a little bit louder, Tony. I want to make sure Loki's ghost can hear you swooning.” Natasha winked at the pair on the sofa as she walked past.

“No need to make sure of that,” Steve sighed over his coffee from across the large sitting room. “Loki got the hint after that story with the horse. You should've seen Tony's face. The literal hearts.”

“Hey, I am _not_ swooning,” Tony sliced through the harassment. “He's simply... unbelievable, the way Thor talks about him.”

Clint muttered under his breath, “ _Unbelievable_ being the right word.”

“I speak the truth,” Thor bristled. Clint wisely took the option to retreat from the room before yet another argument could begin. Thor turned back to nod to Tony. “And kindly Tony agrees to listen to my tales. It has been helping greatly.”

“You _are_ looking better,” Natasha admitted, flopping down on the leather sofa beside Steve. “Just be careful Tony's not writing down all of Loki's fabulous feats in a diary every night.”

Tony actually perked up at the harassment. “A book would be a great idea...”

“A book from you that's not _about_ you?” Steve asked. “This _is_ getting serious.”

Tony ignored him and turned to Thor. “And there's gotta be a movie in there somewhere with all your stories.” He turned to grab his cellphone from the coffee table. “Maybe I can pitch Loki to Hollywood.”

“I don't know if either would be proper tribute-” Thor began to object.

Tony cut him off, flipping through contacts. “Of course casting someone with legs as long as his were would be big ask.” They'd have to get the hair right too. And the eyes. And the lips.

Natasha chuckled and soothed to Thor, “There's no stopping him. Better to accept the inevitable action fantasy romcom.”

“Stark,” Thor snapped, gaining Tony's attention for a heartbeat. “The public knows Loki and I do not see them taking kindly to a film on his early exploits.”

“Well everyone will love him after the film comes out-”

“No.”

Tony's face fell. “But-”

Thor shook his head. “No.”

“Okay fine.” Stark looked back at his phone. “Book deal first. I understand.”

Thor grumbled.

The room went silent. Tony frowned down at the phone as he struggled to come up with a name for the book. _The Adventures of Loki_ seemed too obvious. _Loki_ too generic. How did authors ever come up with titles anyway?

Natasha broke the silence, wondering to Thor, “If you've got _him_ eating it all up, you must have given Loki one hell of a eulogy. Too bad we missed it.”

Thor's features fell and he leaned into his corner of the sofa. “There has been no ceremony. I had to leave him behind and guards sent back for him found no body. Father was not interested in anything more and then I left for here.”

“They found nothing at all?” Tony's features clouded over at the thought. “The place was basically barren wasteland, wasn't it? Nothing there to eat it. No one there to steal it. Where would his body have gone?”

“I do not know.”

“Maybe the guards just didn't know where to look?” Steve frowned over his coffee. “You'd think they'd scour the area for a former Prince's body though...”

“You know, this could be what's bothering you, Thor.” Natasha shifted in her seat. “There's no closure. You had a funeral for mom. You need one for Loki.”

“Father would never agree to anything without a body.”

“Well then,” Tony said. “What if the guards missed something? They had to have missed something.”

“I do not know. What if I find nothing still?”

“We can plan a ceremony, either way. Screw dad, he doesn't have a say in us putting together something for Loki, right?”

Thor sighed but it only took a few heartbeats before he nodded. “Alright. If everyone would... come along?” He looked to Natasha and Steve. Nat nodded immediately. Steve looked much less enthused but he did nod.

“See, everyone's coming,” Tony said. “We'll have a big, kick ass party. Then we'll... light a pyre or something. It'll be great. A true ending for a true hero.”

There was the slightest of grumbles from Steve at the line but Tony shot him a look before he could say anything.

Thor still looked forlorn at the idea but he nodded all the same. “We will leave for Asgard in the morning.”

Asgard. They were headed for Asgard. Tony's head spun at the idea but he tried to contain himself.

He may or may not spend the whole night working on book titles.


	3. Chapter 3

They'd been waiting for hours. The initial excitement and thrill of Asgard was tempered now with time and boredom. Tony was the only one still on his feet, the view of the city behind them too much to look away from. The rest were reclining on various benches as they stood at the shores of a large lake. They'd finished the construction of a pyre. It wasn't much but it would do. Tony eyed the length of it. It was possibly too short but he couldn't remember Loki's exact lanky height.

Steve skipped a stone into the lake as he wondered idly, “Think he's coming back today?”

“Hard to say.” Natasha looked to Tony. “Think he'll find anything?”

Tony shrugged. “It doesn't make any sense that the body would move. He's bound to bring something back.”

“Poor guy,” Clint muttered. “It's not going to be a pretty sight if he finds it.”

“But he needs the closure,” Natasha countered.

“I should've gone with him,” Tony lamented, staring out over the lake toward the far shore Thor disappeared to. “I shouldn't have let him talk me out of it.”

“Give him a few more hours,” Steve said. “Then we'll go looking for him.”

Tony nodded in agreement. It hadn't been that long. He just couldn't help worrying. After hearing all the heartache Thor's been through this last week, to have to find his brother's body...

Tony caught the slightest bit of movement from the far cliffs before there was a rush of air beside him. Thor landed with a firm thud to the ground, a battered body in his arms. Tony's stomach dropped. The group on the beach leaped to their feet. Loki's torso was covered in wounds, red welts and markings on nearly every inch of skin, including his face. Thor had said he'd been stabbed from behind. Did Frost Giants decompose like that? The skin looked red and inflamed, not dead and clammy. Loki's body draped in Thor's arms instead of sitting stiffly. What was even-

“Stark,” Thor cried out in the bleakest of tones, cutting off Tony's thoughts. “Please, take him! I must fetch healers.” He was in a panic yet his features were etched in a grim visage. He tipped Loki into Tony's surprised arms. Loki's long legs and head slumped to either side of Tony's hold on him.

Tony struggled with the weight. “Healers? What healers? What-”

Thor barely managed to stay in place long enough to answer. His face strained with desperation and the faintest glimmer of hope. “He yet lives. You must help me!”

“No way,” Clint said.

Natasha gasped, “It's been _days_ Thor.”

Steve lifted Loki's head slumped over with Tony's hold on him. Tony took in the supposed dead man in his arms. There was the barest hint of breathing and a clamminess to his skin, a warmth of life beneath.

“I don't know if it's such a good idea-” Steve started to say, but Thor immediately cut him off with a snarl.

“Then I do not require your aid.” His attention turned back to Stark. “ _Please_ help me, Tony. The healers may not be enough. I cannot fail him again.”

Emotions bubbled in so many directions. Awe at how this was even possible. Shock to be holding the man he'd heard so much about for days on end. Disbelief and concern that this was truly happening. But beneath it all bubbled hope.

Maybe he'd actually get to meet the guy, the real guy beneath it all, the one Thor never tired of talking about.

Maybe it wasn't stupid, silly pining.

Maybe it was real.

“Get whatever other help you can manage. I've got him.”

Thor's eyes held so much gratitude that Tony had to look away.

“I will return for you both.” A twirl of mjolnir and Thor bounded off in search of help.

Tony could hear the rest of the team's distaste rumble through them but he ignored them. He turned to a bench and set Loki on it.

“You can't be serious,” Clint huffed.

“Jarvis I need you to get working on this,” Tony said aloud, ignoring the others. “We'll get you properly set up soon as Thor gets back. Get my suit over here.” The faint sound of his suit powering up from down the beach sounded.

Clint pressed, “Just because he told you a bunch of hero worshiping stories doesn't mean-”

“Doesn't mean _what_?” Tony interrupted, snapping to look at the trio. “You want to throw him back in jail after all this, fine, but I'm not going to sit back and let him die _again_. Is that what you want?”

Clint had the decency to look slightly ashamed of the conclusion. Finally he muttered a simple, “No.”

“Then shut up and let me work.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the delay. WIPs are just definitely not my style and with my own mental health issues it doesn't work well for me. However things have been better and I want to continue this story so I will be making an effort to poke at it at least once a month if not more. Thank you all for the wonderful feedback and the wishes for it to continue.

It was all a mad cacophony of healers and doctors and tech Tony rushed to understand. Most ignored him at first but he wasn't a fucking genius for nothing. As usual treatments failed, Tony spoke up with new applications for their tech. The healers at first scoffed but Thor bellowed demands to follow Tony's lead. Loki seemed to be agonizingly rotting from the inside out and Tony set about isolating and reversing the pathogen responsible with the Asgardian tech combined with what little he could scrounge from his suit. Thor paced back and forth beyond the doctors, only pausing to rebuke someone resisting Tony's instructions, before returning to his pacing. Eventually the healers learned to silently take orders from a mere mortal.

The sun was setting by the time Loki stabilized. They were high up in the palace, in what Tony could only guess was Loki's quarters, and most of the Asgardians had left. One was still consulting with Thor on what to do next, which was anyone's guess really, the asshole was just trying to sound like he knew what was going on. Tony poked at the floating readouts above Loki but everything was steady and within normal, for him.

Tony flicked the readings away, turning them off, and looked down at Loki. He was still pot-marked with bruises and scabs and wounds of all kinds. His skin was a warmer shade than earlier, nearly back to normal, and his features were calm, serene but alive.

How the fuck was he still alive?

Tony released an astonished breath and sat on the edge of the large bed, drinking in the sight of Loki, right in front of him, after all this time, after all he'd heard over the last few days. The setting sun made his features stand out even more. Those cheekbones, the twist of his lips, the way his dirty long hair fell around him. How did he survive so many days in this state?

He felt Thor's hand on his shoulder and looked up to see they were alone with Loki, everyone else dismissed. Thor squeezed his shoulder and Tony swore there were glints of tears in the big guy's eyes as he said simply, “Thank you.”

Tony huffed a self-conscious chuckle. “I couldn't have done it without those knuckleheads and their tech.”

“And they could not have done anything without you.” Thor locked eyes with him again and repeated, “Thank you.”

Tony cast a small smile up at Thor and moved to stand again, patting Thor on the chest twice. “Happy to help.” His gaze dropped back down onto Loki resting. “If he pulls through this, anyway.”

Thor's features hardened as he looked down at Loki. “He is a survivor. He will. He must.”

Tony squeezed Thor's shoulder. He couldn't even imagine the state Thor's mind must be in right now. He did his best to console, “One hour at a time, big guy.”

Thor mere nodded, not taking his gaze off Loki, features taut.

For a heartbeat Tony wondered what the hell more he could say, before the silence was broken, doors to the bedroom flung open with a resounding slam.

“Why was I only alerted to this now?!” a white bearded old man with an overly bedazzled eye patch roared as he marched into the room, followed by what Tony could only assume to be guards.

“Father, do not disturb him,” Thor rounded on him, immediately moving defensively between the bed and who apparently was Odin. “He requires rest and I won't have you-”

“You won't have _me_ doing what?” Odin snarled as he interrupted. “I will do with this _criminal_ as I like.”

“You can't move him,” Tony spoke up before he could think better of it. “It took hours to get him stable and the pathogen is still eating away at him.”

Odin looked at Tony as you might a misbehaving dog before deigning to cast a look at Loki on the bed. Tony could have sworn for a brief moment he seemed affected by the state of Loki's battered features but then it was gone and Odin huffed, “He breathes, then he can be returned to his prison cell, if not-”

“Must you be so callous father!” Thor shouted. “Put guards at his doors if you must but do not-”

“Do not presume what I must or must not do. You have repeatedly dismissed your birthright to ascend the throne and yet somehow question my judgment when I continue to give it!”

“You would jeopardize his life for such a petty reason?!” Thor bellowed.

Tony's mind boggled at the turn of events. “You can't move him and everything else down to some dank dungeon!”

“He is a criminal against all nine realms. Be quiet!”

“Did he just tell me to shut up?” Tony wondered to Thor, then snapped, “He's my fucking patient!”

“Father, he saved my life, and the lives of all the realms in his work with me. He should be exonerated at once!”

“And yet still you continue to dictate my actions!”

“Enough” came a gravelly, hoarse voice in the most strained of tones.

Thor and Tony turned around as one to see Loki squinting at the three of them, clearly wracked in pain but fighting to remain conscious.

Each word was a rough huff of air. “Return me... to my cell...”

“No,” Thor boomed. “Brother you cannot-”

“I will not... stay here and listen... to your bickering.” His gaze landed on Odin and he hiss between clenched teeth against the pain. “Do as you wish... _father_.”

Odin kept Loki's intensely pained gaze. It was a long number of heartbeats of silence. Tony's only thought was struggling to comprehend moving Loki after all it took to stabilize him. He had no idea how the bastard was even awake at this point. Loki trembled slightly but did well to hide the pain but it had to be excruciating.

Odin looked away first. He turned to leave, his guards following after, as he barked in a matter-of-fact tone, “I will set guards. He is not to leave his quarters until I say otherwise.”

Thor and Tony both gaped in surprise at Odin's command but Loki merely melted into a heap against the pain. Tony watched as guards took up posts and the doors to the bedroom were closed once more. By the time he turned back to Loki, the man was unconscious once again.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you once again for all the positive comments! Here's your monthly update, and I'm working on posting something else. ;)

Loki slept for days. He was in and out of consciousness only enough to get fluids into him. He was never as lucid as he'd been with Odin. Steve and the rest saw the sights in Asgard but Tony stayed right by his patient's side. He and Thor took turns napping while the other looked after Loki. Healers came and went. Most could only say he was stable and required rest. They were pretty fucking useless.

Tony focused on understanding the pathogen. After days of study, he was beginning to wonder if it wasn't some sort of attempt at his body to slow down his death to a standstill after the stab wound. It was almost a kind of hibernation. His body lost in stasis and eating away at itself to stay just barely alive.

Thankfully the sleep and their work to stabilize him began to reverse the effects. His body seemed to be coming back from the brink. His sores were less prominent. His skin had more color. His features were less ragged.

It was still a fucking miracle that the man was right there, lying asleep in his bed, alive and soon to be well. After so much time, after all the mourning Thor went through, after all the tales told to Tony, Loki was _alive_.

Tony sat in the chair pulled up beside Loki's bed, half watching the man sleep, half lost in his own thoughts. It was early morning. Thor had gone to get breakfast for them. Tony rested his head against one propped up hand. The long night dragged at him and he slipped into a light doze.

“What are you doing here?”

Tony jerked upright in his chair at the ragged voice, blinking his eyes to get them to focus. Loki was awake, eyes squinting in the warm morning light coming in the windows. He looked weak but lucid. Tony stared a long moment at those eyes looking back at him, then struggled to find his own voice to answer, “Watching over you.”

Loki's brow furrowed. “Why?”

Tony chuckled. It was a fucking valid question but he couldn't answer it fully even to himself. Instead, he went with, “To make sure you return safely from the brink of death.”

Loki grunted in reply and ran an unsteady hand up his bare chest and over bandages before moving up to brush through his sweat dampened hair. “Someone found me.”

It was a statement, not question, but Tony said anyway, “Thor went to retrieve your body and found you like this. It's a fuckin' miracle.”

“Hardly.” Loki rubbed the palm of his hand against his forehead. “It was an enchantment I put upon myself years ago. In case anything... drastic were to happen to me.”

Tony's eyes widened. “You can do that?”

“Am I not living proof of it?”

“Amazing,” Tony gasped in true, enthusiastic astonishment. “I thought maybe it was something to do with your heritage.”

“It helped.”

“When did you do the enchantment? After the battle in Oslo or after Thor dragged you all to fight the Frost Giants?”

“Well actually it was after the failed castle-” Loki abruptly stopped and lowered his hand onto his lap, quizzically staring at Tony. “How do you know of Oslo or Jotunheim?”

Tony's cheeks flushed at being caught out but he shrugged nonchalantly. “Thor and I have been chatting.”

“About our disastrous exploits?”

“Are you kidding? Oslo was fucking epic! I want to write a book on your exploits, then turn it into a movie franchise.”

Loki blinked, clearly thrown by the enthusiasm. “Truly?”

“Oh hell yeah. Everyone loves a rogue with a heart of gold and his well meaning brother.” Loki raised an eyebrow at the description of himself and Thor. Tony continued, “All the shit you two got into. It'll sell out for weeks on the big screen.”

“Thor must have been utterly grief stricken if he spun the tales so positively.”

“I mean, yes he was a mess, but I don't think he has it in him to make all that shit up about you.” Tony smiled wide, unable to hide his passion for the subject. “We talked for hours on end for days before he finally mustered the courage to go looking for your body. Every tale was incredible. You're spectacular.”

Loki stared in disbelief at the heartfelt compliment from one of the last men he'd expect to hear it from.

Thor arrived with a thud of the door swinging open. He paused mid-entry as he saw Loki awake on the bed. “Brother!”

Loki winced at the exclamation. “Please do keep it down...”

“Are you well? Are you hungry? How are you feeling?”

“As if I've been run over by a horse, repeatedly.” Loki took in Tony a moment, then glanced to Thor hastily putting down trays of food on a side table. “What have you been filling Stark's head with? Were you so devastated you spun lies to him?”

“I told him the truth,” Thor rebuffed. He picked up a bowl of gruel and walked to join them at the bed. “He very much enjoyed your exploits. Has he told you of the book?” Thor sat on the edge of the bed and offered a spoonful to Loki.

“Yes indeed.” Loki made a face at the food but reluctantly accepted it. He reached a mostly steady hand to take the spoon for himself, not wanting to be fed like a child.

“The title's a work in progress but I have an outline going.” Tony stared a moment at Loki sitting upright and eating. Alive. Well. Recovering. It was an incredible sight. Excitement and more fluttered through him. “Now that you're alive again, can I still go forward on it?”

“I don't know if Midgardians would want to read it.” Loki frowned at the taste of his gruel, then added, “But if you wish, I won't say no to tall tales of myself.” He cocked a grin at Thor.

Thor rolled his eyes. “They were all truth.”

“Mm-hm. And _he_ looks at me as he does because you told him of every folly.”

Tony glanced down at the comment while Thor chuckled at the pair.

“He is your caretaker,” Thor said with a nudge to Tony. “Why should he _not_ look kindly upon you. You are well thanks to him.”

“Is that so?”

Tony shrugged. “Your healers all have their heads up their own asses. I just pointed them in the right direction.”

“He is too modest,” Thor said. “I went to find you because of Tony and you live because of his work.”

Loki took Tony in with a decidedly different glance, taking a long look at him, before he said simply, “Thank you.”

“It really was nothing.” Tony glanced at his hands.

Thor smiled at the both of them, then stood to fetch more food.

Tony could feel Loki's gaze on him but he focused on the plate Thor handed him.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Art] Unwitting Matchmaker](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10582293) by [SasTMK (OutOfLuck)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OutOfLuck/pseuds/SasTMK)




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